How To Print Specific Pages Only in A Word Mail Merge Document

You may be wondering how to print just the pages you need from a huge document that has been mail integrated. In Microsoft Word, the mail merge function allows you to print the merged information or save it as a new document. If you have the option to preview your print job before sending it to the printer, you should almost always choose that route. This article provides a quick overview of how to print specific pages only in a Word mail merge document.

What is the function of Mail Merge?

Using mail merge, you may quickly and easily produce documents that are uniquely formatted for each user. A standard letter, for instance, might be made more personable by replacing the generic greeting with the recipient’s name. The document is linked to an external data repository such as a checklist, spreadsheet, or database.

You have the option of merging to the printer or creating a new document when using Word’s mail merge function. The latter is preferable since it allows you to preview your work before printing, which is a crucial step.

What if, though, you just need to print a small section of your combined documents? If you have a combined document that runs to 120 pages but you just need the final 20, how can you do this? One common theory is that printing pages 100–120 is the way to go.

In contrast, using this approach with a mail-merged document will lead to unexpected results. Actually, you won’t receive any results at all since Word puts a section break before each merged item it includes on your page. That means you have 120-page singles, not pages 1 to 120 if you’re printing a document with a single page.

How to Print Only Selected Pages, Section Print

What does Section do?

If you are unfamiliar with how sections function in Word, you may find the process to be frustrating. Word automatically resets the page count whenever a new chapter or section is created. There are three options available to you for resolving this issue:

• There’s the highly time-consuming and laborious option of just starting to delete pages until only the ones you want are left.
• Next, you may make your combined document seem cleaner by exchanging all the section breaks for line breaks.

Get started by reading through these instructions:

1. Use the shortcut key combination Ctrl+H. Microsoft Word will open the Find and Replace dialog window and reveal the Replace tab.
2. Simply type ^b, which denotes a section break, into the Find What window.
3. If the option to use No Formatting appears, choose it. This will get rid of any search parameters that are format-specific. The No Formatting option may be hidden until you choose More.
4. Simply type ^m, the page break code, into the Replace With field.
5. To disable formatting, choose it if the option appears. You may then replace it without bothering about the original’s formatting.
6. Just click the Replace All button to make all changes.

Process of Printing Specific Pages Only in a Word Mail Merge Document

You may now print, as usual, specifying the specific page or pages you want to print. The third and last option is the quickest and least complicated one. Please keep in mind that with your combined document, you will be dealing with parts rather than pages. This is how you would go about printing out the form letter for files 100–120:

• To open the print dialogue, use Ctrl+P.
• Select s100–s120 from the Pages drop-down list. Notice how the ‘s’ was tacked onto the beginning of the phrase. Word will interpret this as a section range rather than a page range.
• Simply press the OK button.

The options you choose will be printed immediately.

Mail Merge Not Printing Selected Pages

In the event the printer loses the ability to read the list of pages to print, this error message will appear. If you wish to print just a certain number of pages from a Word document, you may do so by using the – sign to indicate the starting page and the ending page of the range you intend to print.

Here’s what to do if your pages don’t print properly after going through the steps above:

• Access the print function by going to File > Print.
• To specify a range of pages, use just the section numbers in the Page Range field. S3–S10 is an illustration of this. A print job spanning pages 3–10 is expected to result from this.

Conclusion

Mail merge is a time-saver since it eliminates the need for you to manually insert each individual element of information into each document. Learning how to print specific pages only in a Word mail merge document will enable you to print the document without any interruptions.